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Friday, 16 January 2015

Reportage: £500,000 boost for heritage site repairs

Heritage and cultural venues across Calderdale will be given a £500,000 boost if proposals laid out in the Cabinet’s 2016/17 budget are given the go-ahead by full council.

The money has been set aside as part of the council’s Capital Programme to improve buildings which are significant to our history.

Council leader Stephen Baines (Con, Northowram and Shelf) said: “Throughout Calderdale there are historical buildings that do require some TLC, shall we say.

“Quite a lot of them need attention and we never have enough money for them.

“The two obvious ones, certainly in the Halifax area, are the Borough Market and Bankfield Museum, which both require a substantial amount of money to be spent on them, but there’s nothing at the moment.”

Deputy council leader Scott Benton said now was the ideal time to capitalise on our heritage to increase tourism following the success of the Tour de France and high profile TV shows like Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley.

Coun Benton (Con, Brighouse) said: “These television programmes have shown the best of the borough and put Calderdale on the map.

“It’s incredibly important that we preserve our cultural assets if we are thinking of ways we can improve our tourism.”

The extra £500,000 will be a one-off boost to the council’s budget and will not be an ongoing part of the council’s base budget.